30 Then Joshua built an altar to the God of Israel on Mount Ebal. 31 He built it following the instructions of Moses the servant of God to the People of Israel and written in the Book of The Revelation of Moses, an altar of whole stones that hadn't been chiseled or shaped by an iron tool. On it they offered to God Whole-Burnt-Offerings and sacrificed Peace-Offerings. 32 He also wrote out a copy of The Revelation of Moses on the stones. He wrote it with the People of Israel looking on. 33 All Israel was there, foreigners and citizens alike, with their elders, officers, and judges, standing on opposite sides of the Chest, facing the Levitical priests who carry God's Covenant Chest. Half of the people stood with their backs to Mount Gerizim and half with their backs to Mount Ebal to bless the People of Israel, just as Moses the servant of God had instructed earlier. 34 After that, he read out everything written in The Revelation, the Blessing and the Curse, everything in the Book of The Revelation. 35 There wasn't a word of all that Moses commanded that Joshua didn't read to the entire congregation - men, women, children, and foreigners who had been with them on the journey.
Matthew Henry's Commentary on Joshua 8:30-35
Commentary on Joshua 8:30-35
(Read Joshua 8:30-35)
As soon as Joshua got to the mountains Ebal and Gerizim, without delay, and without caring for the unsettled state of Israel, or their enemies, he confirmed the covenant of the Lord with his people, as appointed, Matthew 6:33. They built an altar, and offered sacrifice to God, in token of their dedicating themselves to God, as living sacrifices to his honour, in and by a Mediator. By Christ's sacrifice of himself for us, we have peace with God. It is a great mercy to any people to have the law of God in writing, and it is fit that the written law should be in a known tongue, that it may be seen and read of all men.